Individual Curation Materials

{ Lim Jia Qi Alicia }

Introduction

Due to the rise of nuclear families, the ageing population calls for our attention. The visual pieces are selected from a series of photo documentation “一房一世” (“A room, a life”), by award-winning local photojournalist, Bob Lee.

Image 1

Picture and reference from: Bob Lee, 2015. Bobleeks.com, http://www.bobleeks.com/works/oneroomflat.php

As our project topic revolves around the forgotten places of Singapore, these images demonstrate visual elements which are worth studying.

From a technical perspective, Bob recoloured the image into black and white, with an intention to stir emotional response. Apart from feeling melancholy, the colour creates an the aura of a forgotten past.

The framing abides the rule of third, as the room axis shows “distorted square” walls representing disorder and “triangle” ceiling that gives tension to the image. Although the shot angle is almost identical to Image 2, Image 1 sets a different atmosphere through character positioning.

The multiview perspective communicates to the audience that the focus should be on the man, then the woman. The eyeline of man also directs our eye to his injured leg. However, panopticism may be present, as the man looks upset when showing his injury to the photographer. Naturally, the man fits into our epistemological stereotype of local elderly, by portraying himself as pitiful.

This image is an evidence of grim living conditions in one-room flats, as it shows realities of life in its truest form. Hence, it motivates the use of similar stylistic portrayals to extend the story of a forgotten Singapore.

Image 2

Picture and Reference from: MSF, 2015. Committee on Aging Issues,
http://app.msf.gov.sg/Portals/0/Summary/research/CAI_report.pdf.

Firstly, analyzing from a historical angle, the images were taken in 2004, when the Committee on Ageing Issues (CAI) was set up to achieve ‘Successful Ageing for Singapore’.

Bob aims to remind locals that these socially isolated elderly are living right in our midst. Through ‘Pathos’, the image appeals to our emotions and evoke an initial sympathetic reaction. Upon viewing the images, projection of cultural values such as human rights to basic shelter are triggered and we start to recognise these lesser-known communities.

The cognitive theory mentioned that we tend to ignore commonplace scenes due to habitation. Hence, the bare room is a contrast to our expectations of a proper home, and the environment becomes an indexical sign that the man is poverty-striken. This subsequently inspired the use to tap on what the audience already knows, so as to bring out a key message in our project.

On the other hand, apart from separating the man from the background, the lighting draws our attention to the clutter behind. Hence, this inspirational photo is also a positive reference for visual techniques such as lighting in dark places and shots within small spaces.

{ Ong Lynette }

Exploring two Singaporean’s pictures of the country’s forgotten places

Photography project “This used to be my playground” by blogger “mmlittlee”: Group photo

Picture and Reference from: http://mmlittlee.blogspot.sg/2015/01/this-used-to-be-my-playground.html

This photograph is a commemorative shot of a “playdate” for three families specially dressed up retro: The photographer, a stay-at-home-mom had the special intent to share her childhood memories and joy at their concrete playground with her children.

The adults and children’s differing eyelines exemplifies visual interest through common fate (theory of Gestalt) — — the former’s looking into the camera illustrates them commemorating their happiness, while the latter’s cheerful smiles at one another reflects their carefree and innocent spirits. Constructivism provides freedom for the viewer to imagine “the child in an adult”, a displaced code where snippets of the adult’s childhood days and joyful spirits seem to be reflected in their children.

However, it was difficult to comprehend that this picture is taken at the Dragon’s ‘tail’ unless he can infer that while referring to other pictures of the Dragon Playground. The photographer could have tried to turn that symbolic sign into an iconic one for easier identification.

This picture creates an inspiration: to capture adults and children enjoying themselves at the entire playground instead. There would be more emphasis on recording happy moments of play and new memories, while also preserving the exact playground’s look.

Photography project “Yesteryears” by Sean Cham: Man at Train Station

Picture and Reference from: http://mothership.sg/2015/03/this-guy-photographs-himself-in-forgotten-places-in-spore-the-results-are-insane/

While clear lighting exemplifies importance of showcasing the environment — — the train station — — it was Cham’s artistic reenaction of Singapore’s stories in forgotten places that usually captures the viewer’s interest at first sight.

The dramatic staging helps the viewer better relate to the place. ‘Catching the train ride’ is an indexical sign of the most generally associated action to the venue: people constantly rushes in and out of the place that used to be chaotic and busy.

The mess of papers or “documents” midair were useful props, making up for the lack of details in general shots. Visual interest was amplified through implied movement from Cham’s running towards open space. Yet his looking back at the mess of papers was as if he looked back into the past, reminding Singaporeans who are leading hectic lives to not forget their past.

However, the dramatic staging and props seemed to gather more attention than the beauty of the environment itself. These would restrict the types of shots for exploration.

Cham’s critical perspective to share all his pictures online, but not reveal the photo shoot location was also very pathos-smart. Leaving the audience a deep impression of the place emphasises salience, a reminder to relate their past and the present; exploring memories with other audiences certainly increases the emotions and feelings associated with the place.

{ Corin Too Jia Hui }

Reenacting forgotten places in Singapore

Photo 1

Picture and Reference from: http://orislight.blogspot.sg/search?updated-max=2014-10-11T01:16:00-07:00&max-results=7&start=5&by-date=false

The series was shot in an old Singapore estate. James was reminiscing about the past and this caught his attention because it is rare to see such pay-phones on streets now as compared to 20 years ago.

An element of seeing is selecting. We select the elements that we want to see or elements that the photographer intends for us to see. In this case, the pay-phone. Intentionally edited, the background was colour corrected. It helps us to focus on the pay-phone as the colour stands out from the lightly constrasted background.

The colour red has a longer wavelength, thus it stays in our eyes for a longer period of time. We could consider the choice of colours to create similar effect to emphasize our idea, such as enhancing colours that will create larger impact on viewers(e.g red).

Looking past the payphone, is a corridor. James opened up the aperture to produce a shallower depth-of-field, making the pay phone stand out as compared to the less-dense(texture) corridor. Though the converging lines may distract the viewer, the colour draws back the attention.

Photo 2

Picture and Reference from: http://www.hendralauw.com/2011/09/happy-time/

By opening up the aperture, our focus lands on the man’s expression due to the shallow depth of field. With the placement of the subject abiding therule of third, our eyes are first led to the man.

From our shared experience, we can comprehend chess as a common pastime for elderly. His smile is an indexical sign representing happiness. Following his eyeline, we know that he is looking at the game and infer that’s making him happy; a message Hendra tried to convey. Suchmetonymic code can be applied in our project to remind viewers that happiness were once found in forgotten places.

Gestalt theory states that visual interest comes from dissimilarity. The difference in the tones draw our attention to the man because the lightest and darkest tones are on his shirt. If we attempt our photos in black&white, we can produce the same effect to lead the viewer’s eyes to the subject as well.

I personally find black&white photos timeless and it is a style I pursue.Since we are reenacting places that has been forgotten with the passing of time, we can show that these places should be timeless, not to be forgotten

{ Goh Yang Ling Cheryl }

Image 1

Picture and Reference from: http://www.straitstimes.com/through-the-lens/story/revisiting-childhood-games

Taken from a Straits Times article reminiscing old pastimes, this photo is an artefact holding journalistic importance. With technological advancements on the constant rise, it is unfortunate how traditional games that were passed down and enjoyed by generations are now forgotten.

The two children playing the congkak at a Sunday play session highlights the simplicity of life beyond entertainment.

Despite the slower pace of life back then, it was evident the children still enjoyed spending time in the company of their loved ones. Supported by the gestalt theory, the proximity of the 2 children and the converging lines of people in the photo suggests their relationship — acquaintances, schoolmates, or even close friends and loved ones.

As the viewer’s imagery of memories is as important as what he sees, the black-and-white colour tone or even the congkak itself could possibly trigger the viewer’s happy childhood memories, as supported by the cognitive theory. In our final project, we hope to recreate these forgotten scenes in our modern daily life — such as a grandparent bonding over a game ofcongkak with his grandchild in the living room of the modern HDB flat.

Image 2

Picture and reference from: http://mynicehome.sg/2014/02/12/my-10-fondest-memories-home/

They used to be a common sight at HDB void decks and along the streets, but nowadays these small provision shops, better known as mama shops,have become one of the many forgotten things in Singapore.

The Indian man behind the counter is a visual stereotype of how the mercantile class Indians used to be proprietors of small traditional businesses. This demonstrates the cognitive theory as the viewer is required to have some knowledge of Singapore’s multi-racial culture and history in order to know he is the owner.

The photo also reflects usage of the gestalt theory with the low-fi colour tone, which highlights saturation of colours and shadows, while the items are neatly displayed in a similar style.

However, the bright orange telephone at the bottom left corner of the photo breaks this similarity and causes dissonance to the image. Its solid striking colour and relatively large size is an anomaly to the rows of snacks in the photo, serving as a visual interest and drawing focus to it. If a similar concept is applied in our final project, focus can be drawn onto a particular item despite the frame being filled with many other petty objects.